Sawmill carriage



Feb. 19, 1952 L. R. STANLEY ETAL SAWMILL CARRIAGE SYSheets-Sheet l Filed 0012. lO, 1946 Feb. 19, 1952 R. STANLEY ET AL SAWMILL CARRIAGE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. l0, 1946 Feb- 19, 1952 L. R. STANLEY ET AL 2,586,271

SAWMILL CARRIAGE Filed 0011. l0, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Feb. 19, 1952 SAWMILL CARRIAGE Luther Robert Stanley and Walter Henry Pate, Greggton, Text Application October 10, 1946, Serial No. 702,464 5 Claims. (Cl. 14S-108) This invention relates to a saw mill logr carriage and more particularly to a saw mill log carriage having the source of motive power supported thereon.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved saw mill log carriage which may be operated completely by an operator seated on the carriage, thus eliminating the necessity of a block setter and signalman, thereby increasing the speed and emciency of the sawing operation.

Another object of this invention is to provide a saw mill log carriage of the kind to be more particularly described hereinafter, in which a motor is carried on the carriage which motor may be controlled by an operator on the carriage, and winding drums driven by the motor for pulling the carriage in either direction along the track.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a novel gear arrangement for propelling a saw mill log carriage along its supporting tracks which consists of a pair of winding drums driven by a motor through a separate differential gearing for each drum, the speed of rotation of each drum being controlled by a clutch or brake on the diiferential gear arrangement whereby the drum is rotated when the clutch or brake is held against rotation or retarded a certain degree by the operator riding on the carriage.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a saw mill log carriage of this kind in which a wire rope or cable is utilized for propelling the carriage with less spring than the conventional arrangement of a line running over a sheave whereby better control of the carriage is obtained.

A further object of this invention is to provide a self propelled log carriage for saw mills, which is more readily and nely controlled in speed in each direction by the operator thereon which permits of the most advantageous and time saving production under varying conditions.

With the above and other objects in view, our invention consists in the arrangement7 combination and details of construction disclosed in the drawings and specification, and then more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a top plan view, partly broken away and partly in section, of our log carriage,

Figure 2 is a front elevation thereof.

Figure 3 is a transverse section taken on the line 3 3 of Figure 1,

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view of the drum and cable arrangement.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral Il) designates generally a saw mill log carriage constructed according to an embodiment of our invention. The carriage I0 is formed with a base having'longitudinally extending channeled side members II, and transverse members I2 connected between the side members II. On the forward side of the frame or base, wheels I4 are provided for engaging on a rail or track I5 for supporting the carriage Ill, and wheels I6 are rotatably carried by the frame on the rear side which engage on the rail Il. The front rail or track I5 is formed with an inverted V-shaped upper surface and the wheels I4 are each formed with a il-shaped peripheral edge or groove engageable on the V-shaped rail I5 to hold the carriage IU against movement off of the rails transversely of the rails I5 and I'I. The rear rail Il is provided with a wear resisting surface I8 on its upper edge on which the flat rimmed wheels I6 engage. Axles or shafts I9 are carried by bearing brackets 2U fixed on and hung from the frame for rotatably supporting the axles I9 and wheels I4 and I6. The wheels I4 and I6 are freely rotatable relative to the frame, there being no driving connection to the Wheels.

Transverse supporting members 2| are fixed on the frame between the members II on the upper side thereof and L-shaped log blocks 24 are slidable along the length of the members 2|v transversely of the carriage I5 for pushing the logs forwardly where they may be cut by the circular saw blade 25 which is supported and rotated independen-tly ofthe carriage I0.

At each end of the tracks I5 and II, there is provided a raised block or tie 26 extending between the rails and midway the lengths of the blocks 26 a steel rope or cable 2l is anchored, the rope 2l being relatively taut whereby there will be little stretching and slipping as the carriage propels itself along the tracks and rope in the manner to be hereinafter described.

The log blocks 2li are slidably moved across the carriage I0 by an voperator seated in the seat 28, fixed on the carriage, through the control levers 29 and 36.

The conventional way of propelling a carriage of this type along the track is to provide a xed source of power and a winding drum with a cable or rope about the drum fixed to the carriage. With such an arrangement it is necessary to have an operator for the cable and another operator on the carriage and a signal system whereby the operator on the carriage may inform the operator of the winding drum of the necessity for a change in speed or direction. Such an arrangement is clumsy and ineicient as compared to the improved power system of our invention.

In order to provide a motive power for the carriage I (I, we have provided a gasoline or other suitable engine or prime mover 3l, fixed on the upper surface of the carriage frame and provided with a throttle lever 32 which the operator may reach while seated on the carriage i0. The engine 3| rotates directly a drive shaft 34 on which is fixed a sprocket 35, the shaft 34 being supported on the carriage frame by bearing brackets 36.

An intermediate or counter shaft 31 is rotatably supported on the frame between bearing brackets 38 and'has iixed thereon'three sprockets 39, 40 and 4|. The center or drive sprocket 40 is driven by a chain 42 about the sprockets 35 and 46. The engine is adapted to turn in but one direction to drive the chain 42 in the direction shown by the arrow adjacent thereto. Rotation of sprocket 40 effects simultaneous rotation of sprockets 39 and 4|.

Drums 43 and 44 are driven by the engine 3| in opposite directions as indicated by the arrows thereon for propelling the carriage in the desired direction as the cable 21 is coiled about the drums so that rotation of the drum being driven causes the carriage l0 to move in the certain direction. The drum 43 is driven through the diterential gearing 45 and the drum 44 is driven by the diiferential gearing 46. The gearing 45 comprises a sprocket 41 fixed to a Short longitudinal shaft 41 rotatably supported on the carriage which is driven by a chain 46 about the sprockets 4| and 41'. A driving pinion gear 49 is iixed on the same shaft as the sprocket 41 and is driven thereby. The driving pinion 49 engages the outer ring gear 56 for constantly driving the gear 56 at a constant speed. Ring gears l and 52 are driven by the pinions 54 rotatably carried by the outer ring gear 50. The drum 43 is xed on the same shaft 55 as the gear 5| and a brake or clutch plate 56 is fixed on the same shaft 51 as the ring gear 52. With no load on the drum 43 or clutch plate 56, or an even load on both, the drum 43 and clutch plate 56 are rotated in the same direction as indicated by the arrow. When the friction of the cable 21 is put on the drum 43, the drum 43 is held against rotation and the clutch plate 56 is rotated in the same direction at twice the original speed, and when a load as by a brake band 51 is put on the clutch plate 56, the drum 43 is rotated, the speed of the rotation of the drum 43 varying inversely as the speed of the clutch plate 56 reaching a maximum when the clutch plate 5.6 is stopped by the brake band 51.

The same arrangement is provided for rotating the drum 44, namely, the chain 58 drives the sprocket 59 which in turn drives the driving pinion 6i) fixed on the same shaft. The pinion 60 meshes with and drives the outer ring gear 6| which in turn rotates the inner ring gears 62 and 64 through the pinions 65. The drum 44 is fixed on the same shaft 66 as the gear 62 and the clutch plate 61 is fixed on the same shaft 68 as the ring gear 64. Rotation of the drum 44 and clutch plate 61 is in a direction opposite to that of the drum 43 and clutch plate 56, and the rotation of the drum 44 and its speed is controlled by the brake band 68 engaging clutch plate 61 in the same manner as brake band 51 engages clutch plate 56.

The brakes or brake. bands 51 and 68 are controlled by an operator seated in the seat 28 on the carriage i9.. A pedal 63 is connected to the brake band 51 by rods 16 and 1I connected together by a bellcrank 12, and pedal 14 operates brake band 63 through rods 15 and 16 and bellcrank 11, whereby depression of the pedals 68 and 14 cause the brake bands 51 and 68 to engage and hold or brake the clutches or clutch plates 56 and 61 respectively.

In the use and operation of this saw mill log carriage l0, the engine is run at a constant speed by an operator seated on the carriage I0. Through the sprocket and chain drives as shown in Figure l, the outer ring gears 50 and 6| are driven at a constant speed in opposite directions. Since the cable 21 is wrapped about the drums 43 and 44, the drums are held against rotation and the clutches or clutch plates 56 and 6i are rotated at twice the speed of the ring gears 56 and 6| respectively.

When it is desired to move the carriage I0 to the right, as seen in Figure 1, the pedal 69 is depressed Which causes band 51 to tighten on and hold or brake the clutch plate 56 causing drum 43 to rotate in the direction indicated, thus wrapping the cable about the drum 43 and paying it out to the left over drum 44 which is idling at this time` To move the carriage l0 to the left, the pedal 69 is released and pedal 14 depressed. Brake band 68 holds clutch plate 61 against rotation, thus rotating drum 44 as indicated and paying out the cable 21 over drum 43 which is now idling. The speed of the drums 43 and 44 is controlled by the pressure on the brakes or brake bands 51 and 68 respectively, being a maximum when the brakes or brake bands are fully set holding the clutches or clutch plates against rotation. The different diameters of the drums 43 and 44 cause feeding more slowly in the sawing direction than in the return movement.

We do not lmean to conne ourselves to the exact details of construction herein disclosed, but claim all variations falling within the purview of the appended claims.

What we claim is:

1. A saw mill log carriage adapted to run on a track comprising a frame, an engine on said frame, a pair of winding drums on said frame, a single length of cable anchored at its ends to opposite ends of the track and looped around both drums in the same direction, a diiierential drive gear arrangement for each of said drums for rotating said winding drums in opposite directions, a clutch plate on each of said differential gear drives opposite from the drum thereon, a brake for each of said clutch plates for checking rotation of the clutch plates for independently driving the drums to advance the carriage in a cutting direction and to return the same, operable means driving said diiierential drives from said engine, whereby each of said drums is caused to rotate upon braking of the respective brakes.

2. A saw mill log carriage adapted to run on a track comprising a frame, an engine on said frame, a pair of oppositely rotating winding drums on said frame, a single length of cable anchored at its ends to opposite ends of the track and looped around both drums in the saine direction, a differential gear drive for each of said drums, means for driving said differential gears from said engine, each of said differential gears comprising an outer ring gear, pinions on said outer ring gear, a pair of inner ring gears enga.,- ing said pinions, and a driving pinion gear engaging said outer ring gear, one of said winding drums connected to one inner ring gear in each of said dierential drives, a clutch plate xed to the other of said inner ring gears, and a brake for each of said clutch plates for holding a selected one of said clutch plates against rotation for rotating the respective winding drum associated therewith.

3. Propelling means for a saw mill log carriage comprising a length of track, a single cable secured at each end of said track and extending longitudinally thereof, a carriage on said track, an engine on said carriage, a pair of winding drums jcurnaled on said carriage and driven by said engine, a differential gear for each of said Winding drums for rotating said drums in opposite directions, said cable being looped about each of said drums in the same direction, a clutch on each. of said diierential gears opposite from the drum thereon, and a brake for each of said clutches for independently driving said oppositeiy rotating drums and controlling and reversing the direction of movement of said carriage.

4. A saw mill comprising tracks, a log carriage movable on the tracks, a saw supported and rotated independently of the carriage, an engine on said carriage, a pair of winding drums of different diameters journaled on said carriage, a

single length of cable anchored at its ends at opposite ends of the track andlopped around both drums in the saine direction, a differential drive gear for each of said drums for rotating said drums in opposite directions, a clutch plate on each of said differential gears at the sides thereof opposite to the drums, a brake band for each of said clutch plates for checking rotation of the clutch plates for independently driving the drums to advance the carriage in a cutting direction by the smaller drum more slowing than in a return direction by the larger drum, operative drive connections between the engine and the diierential gears and means for independently engaging a brake band with a clutch plate to cause independent rotation of the drums in 3 opposite directions.

5. A saw mill comprising a base having tracks,

a saw supported and rotated independently, a log carriage movable back and forth on the tracks, an engine on said carriage, a pair of oppositely rotatable winding drums of different size mounted on the carriage, a dilerential drive for each of said drums to drive the drums in opposite directions, means for driving the diierentials from the engine, means oppositely driven by each of said differentials, means for checking either of REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Date Number Name 563,265 Dttbenner July 7, 1896 1,323,299 Macfarlane Dec. 2, 1919 1,624,064 ONeill Apr. 12, 1927 1,891,562 Levin Dec. 20, 1932 2,286,119 Sloane June 9, 1942 FOREGN PATENTS N urnber Country Date 434,867 France Feb. 15, 1912 40,966 France June 14, 1932 (1st addition t0 718,202) 

